Calutron structure



Sept. 23, 1958 J. L. ROUSH CALUTRON STRUCTURE Filed Sept 19, 1945 INVENTOR. J'arzzes Z. Zoaa.

2,853,6lii Patented Sept. 23, 1958 CALUTRON STRUCTURE James Leigh Roush, Asheville, N. C., assignmto the United States of America as represented by the United States Atomic Energy Commission Application September 19, 1945, Serial No. 617,316

8 Claims. (Cl. 250-419) This invention relates to an improvement in isotope separating apparatus of the type described in detail in the application of Ernest 0. Lawrence, Serial No. 557,- 784, now Patent 2,709,222, issued May 24, 1955. The type of isotope separating apparatus described in this application is known as a calutron. My invention as disclosed herein is concerned with an improvement in the receiver or collector structure of such apparatus and has particular application in the use of this apparatus for the mass production of certain particularly desired isotopes.

In apparatus of the type referred to above the receiver or collector is in the form of a chamber having openings in which the desired isotopes in the form of charged particles are received, and in the structure of the application referred to above, one of the particularly desired isotopes is collected in a container or pocket disposed within such receiver. My invention is particularly concerned with an improvement in this container or pocket, the improvement being for the purpose of facilitating the receiving and retention of the charged particles and their ultimate recovery later by chemical processes to which the collector pocket is subjected. It has been the practice in calutrons to have in the lower part of the collector pocket a series of upstanding blades or members such as to form a structure which has come to be known in the art as a footscraper, the purpose of it being to improve the characteristics of the pocket whereby it serves to retain charged particles received therein and prevent their being lost by bouncing and so on. The footscraper blades also provide increased surface which can become coated with a deposit formed by the charged particles which are received in the pocket and from which the isotopes can later be recovered by chemical processes. The object of my invention is primarily to provide a collector pocket having a footscraper assembly which can be inserted and removed from the pocket easily and quickly as a unitary assembly and so arranged that the blades are individually detachable or removable for cleaning and chemical processing purposes. Ordinarily calutron apparatus is operated intermittently, the collector pockets being removed between runs of the apparatus for the purpose of chemical recovery of the deposited isotopic material. To be able to insert and remove the footscraper structure as a unitary assembly facilitates recovery and repreparation of the apparatus for operation and saves considerable time. Individual detachability of the footscraper blades facilitates chemical recovery of the deposit thereon, enabling considerably better cleaning of the parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a footscraper assembly as referred to in the foregoing wherein the blade members are attached to a common base or plate by means of clips or hooks struck up from the plate, each blade having an angular foot portion with the toe thereof extending underneath the angular portion of the next succeeding blade whereby the blades are held in their assembled relationship in a quickly and easily demountable manner.

Another object is to provide a demountable footscraper blade assembly for calutron pockets as in the previous object wherein the assembly is held in the container or pocket by hold-down means attach-able to and detachable from the sidewall of the container or collector pocket.

Further objects and numerous advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawing wherein Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of one corner of an isotope separating apparatus of the type known as a calutron.

Figure 2 is a front view of the collector pocket which is used in the receiver of the apparatus of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the collector pocket of Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a detail showing the manner of attaching the footscraper blades to the base plate.

Figure 6 is a view of a detail, being an elevational view of the structure of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a view of a detail showing the manner of attaching the footscraper assembly hold-down means inside of the collector pocket.

Referring to Figure l of the drawing, one corner of.

a calutron is shown in cross section, this particular structure being the type of calutron disclosed in detail in the earlier application of Hugh G. Neil, Serial No. 573,615, filed January 19, 1945, now Patent 2,712,074 issued June 28, 1955, as well as in the application of Lawrence referred to above. The structure comprises an evacuated tank as shown at 10, one side of which is closed by a faceplate 11 to which the receiver structure is attached and by which it is carried, the receiver structure being designated as a whole by numeral 12. There are magnetic field producing means associated with the tank which produce a strong magnetic field transverse of the tank, which in Figure 1 would be in a direction perpendicular to the paper, and these magnetic field producing means comprise ironcores or pole pieces on opposite sides of the tank, each of the pole pieces having a winding as indicated at 13 associated therewith, the windings being within a housing as indicated at 14. Calutrons may ordinarily include a plurality of ion sources each producing its own beam of ions with a receiver associated with each ion source. In the structure of Figure 1 there are three receivers shown, one of them being indicated at 17 and the adjusting mechanism therefore being shown at 18. The collector pocket is designated 21 and it has the general shape and configuration as shown in the enlarged view of Figure 4. The collector pocket is supported from insulators 22 at the lower part of the receiver 17, the receiver being rectilinear in cross section and having a slanting upper part as shown. The receiver has openings in its upper part on opposite sides of a carbon baffle member 23 and the desired isotopes are received through these openings. The receiver as shown in Figure 1 has certain other carbon bafile members which in part define the openings through which the isotopic material passes but which form no part of my invention,

my invention being concerned only with improvements in the collector pocket 21.

As may be seen in Figures 3 and 4 the collector pocket 21 is curved so that it conforms to the curved shape of the beam as is conventional in calutrons. The back part of the pocket 21 is higher as may be seen in Figure 4 and the ends have slanting portions which slant down to the lower front portion of the pocket. Within the pocket and in the lower part thereof are a plurality of upstanding blade members 27 and my invention is particularly concerned as pointed out above with the manner of assembling and attaching the blade structure within the pocket, the purpose of the blades being largely to prevent the isotopic material from bouncing out of the pocket once it has been received therein. .Each of the blades 27 has an angular foo't portion 28 as may be seen on the various figures and each foot portion has a pair of spaced cutouts, openings, or notches 29 into which fit hooks or clips 34 which are struck up from the material of a fiat bottom or base plate 3?. which has a shape corresponding to the bottom of the collector pocket. The clips 30 have a flat horizontal head portion connected by a narrower neck or shank of about the same width as openings 29 so that the head overlies material of the foot portion 28 of blades 27. The base plate 31 is laid over or superimposed on another plate 32 which is for purposes of stiffening the plate 31, this latter plate being of a thin gauge so as to facilitate having the clips 30 struck up therefrom. It is to be seen therefore that each of the blades 27 is clipped to the plate 31 as. described and as shown in Figures 4, and 6; The toe of the foot portion 28 of each blade extends underneath the next succeeding blade which assists in retaining the blades in. position. The last blade at the right end of the pocket looking at Figure 4 is held in position by a small strip or bar 35 which it bears against and which is attached by screws 36 to the plate 31, the screws 36 also attaching the plates 31 and 32 together.

The entire footscraper assembly is retained or held in the lower part of pocket 21 by hold-down brackets consisting of rods 37, the lower ends of which bear against the plate 31 and the upper ends of which are screw threaded and which are received in small screw threaded brackets 3%, one of these being shown in detail in Figure 7. The screw threaded opening in the brackets 38 extends all the way through so that a screwdriver can be inserted in the upper end of the bracket for engaging and rotating the rods 37. Each bracket 38 has a short pin 39 extending therefrom, the pin having a relatively large head which is insertable in an opening 40 in the back wall of the pocket 21. Extending upwardly fro-m the :opening 40 is a slot 41 of a width to accommodate the shank of the pin 39. When pin 39 is fitted into opening 40 and the bracket is then moved upwardly the shank of the pin 39 is retained in the slot 41. When the bracket 38 is attached to the back sidewall of the pocket 21 in this manner the rod 37 is turned with a screwdriver as described above so that its lower end bears against the plate 31, the thrust developed therein thus holding thev parts in assembled relationship with the pin 39 engaged in the slot 41 In this manner the parts are assembled and remain in such assembled position during operation of the calutron. The pocket 21 is water-tight up to opening 40. At the end of a run of the calutron when it is desired to remove the pocket for purposes of disassembly and chemical processing thereof, the rods 37 are turned with a screwdriver until the brackets 38 are loosened sufficiently to permit removal of pins 39 from openings 40 so that the hold-down structure is detached from the pocket 21. The footscraper blade assembly may then be removed from the pocket 21 simply by lifting it out, and then by removing the screws 36, all of the blades are individually removable manually for cleaning and chemical processing. After cleaning and chemical processing the blades can be individually reassembled as described above and the bar 35 and plates 31 and 32 attached together as before and the entire assembly reinserted in the pocket 21' and attached therein by the hold-down mechanism.

By reason of the individual demountability of the blades thorough cleaning of each blade is made possible without danger of flakes or particles of isotopic material being left remaining around the lower part of the blades where they attach to the baseplate. Assembly of the blades and baseplate can readily be accomplished by relatively 4 unskilled personnel and the assembly then inserted in the pocket and fastened in place by the hold-down bracket structure.

From the foregoing those skilled in the art will observe that I have provided a simple, convenient and rugged arrangement whereby footscrapel' structure can be made in the form of a unitary assembly which is insertable and removable from the collector pocket as such. Individual demountability of the footscraper blades facilitates thorough cleaning and chemical processing, the manner,

of reassembly being simple enough to not require any but slightly skilled personnel. Reassembly of the footscrapers in the pockets likewise requires very little skill and can be accomplished in a minimum of time, and worn blades are easily replaceable.

The embodiment of my invention disclosed herein is representative of its preferred form. The disclosure is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being determined in accordance with the claims appended hereto.

lclaim:

'1. In a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means comprising a plurality of upstanding blade members in said container, each of said members having an angular foot portion, means comprising clips inter-engaging with the angular foot portion, the toe ofjsaid portion fitting under the foot of an adjacent member whereby individual members are retained in position, and means whereby the members as a group are retained in position in the container.

2. in a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means comprising a plurality of upstanding blade members in said container, each of said members having an angular foot portion, the toe of said portion fitting under the foot of an adjacent member, and means comprising clips whereby the foot of each member is attached within the container.

3. in a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means comprising a plurality of upstanding blade members in said container, each of said members having an angular foot portion, the toe of said portion fitting under the foot of an adjacent member, and means comprising clips whereby the foot of each member is attached within the container, said clips eing struck up from the material of which they are formed.

4. In a calutron receiver, in combination, means formingan open topped container, means comprising a plurality of upstanding blade members in said container, each of said members having an angular foot portion, the toe of said portion fitting under the foot of an adjacent member, and means comprising clips whereby the foot of each member is attached within the container, said clips being struck up from the material of which they are formed, the parts engaged by the clips having cut-outs in which the clips engage.

5. In a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means comprising a plurality of upstanding blade members in said container, means whereby the members as a group are retained in position in the container, said last means including a plate to which all of the members are attached and means for removably retaining the plate in the container comprising at least one member attachable to the side wall of the container.

6. in a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means in the lower part of the container having a plurality of members upstanding therefrom, said members being individually attachable thereto and detachable therefrom, and means detachably retaining said second means in position whereby: the second means and mosaic! members can be inserted, and removed from the container as an assembly.

7. In a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means in 'thelower part of the container having a plurality of members upstanding therefrom, said members being individually attachable thereto and detachable therefrom, and means detachably retaining said second means in position whereby the second means' and the said members can be inserted and removed from the container as an assembly, said retaining means being detachable from said container to facilitate removal of the assembly.

8. In a calutron receiver, in combination, means forming an open topped container, means in the lower part of the container having a plurality of members upstanding therefrom, said members being individually attachable thereto and detachable therefrom, and means detachably retaining said second means in position whereby the second means andthe said members can be inserted and removed from the container as an assembly, said retaining means comprising at least one member having its lower end bearing against said second means and its upper part removably attached to the container.

Kandler Mar. 18, 1919 Belleau May 2, 1933 

